Thursday, April 5, 2012

We Built This City...

There's something happenning in Boston....I think. I really just moved here six months ago so I suppose I don't yet qualify as a true inside observer, but all of the press I read about Boston- style and otherwise- is pointing in the same direction. Basically- we are sick of being shit on. Whether it's New Yorkers claiming that we're not even a real city, GQ listing us as "America's Bad Taste Storm Sewer", or our apparent reputation for sleepy saturdays (damn you, MBTA) and sartorial sloppiness, the press (and perhaps indeed, the people too) are starting to take notice.

The culmination of this trend was apparent to me in the column Obscura, part of a newly debuted Boston Magazine Coup- whose title itself draws on Boston's historically revolutionary past in hopes of offering a truly fresh and exciting take on Bostonian looks and lifestyle. Obscura describes itself as "Notes From Boston's Lifestyle Underground" with styled photographs rich with bright colors and edgy Doc Martens. The first paragraph of the column reads:

My first thought upon seeing this was "Wait, Boston has a lifestyle underground?" Well apparently it does. Or at least wants to. (When it comes to Public Relations material- it's always very hard to tell the difference). So- Are we just in fierce denial of our flaws and out to prove otherwise? Or are we now actually making an effort to become just as culturally innovative as we are scientifically? Is this all hopeful speculation, or is Boston actually due for a new cultural renaissance? Whatever it is, I like it.

And to show my allegiance to this 'movement' (whatever it is) I have decided to make a list of Classically Bostonian things you'll very certainly probably never see (hey, never say never) lauded on this blog: